Two houses, two hearts
by Elderblossom
Summary: Merlin is a late 16th century writer, who writes poems and plays under the pen name William Shakespeare. But currently his imagination seems to have abandoned him. Arthur is the son of King Uther, but he always just wanted to be an actor. Naturally they fall in love.
1. Chapter 1

Notes: The idea came from watching Shakespeare in love. This is for Mal. :)

Prologue

Merlin looked around the round theatre, with boredom written all over his face. The guy on the stage was worse than the one before. Why were these people even trying to audition for his next play? Well, of course he knew why. These actors were so bad, nobody would take them, except for maybe someone unfamous, who didn't (or couldn't) pay them much, but enough to live. Maybe.

Merlin dismissed the actor, after he had perfectly destroyed a poem, which Merlin had written a few years back. Granted, there wasn't much to destroy, but this guy...Merlin shook his head. "Thank you, er," he looked down at the list of names, "er, Valiant. Erm, that was...nice. Why don't you go and join the others? We'll contact you, if we have need for your...talents."

Valiant nodded, and turned away, and Merlin slumped in his seat. "I can't do this," he complained. Gaius, who sat a few feet away from Merlin, ignored him completely in favour of writing some notes next to Valiant's name. Merlin groaned: "Gaius, come on, I know this is your theatre and I know that you can chose whomever you want for your plays, but these guys, they will ruin my play!"

Gaius merely raised an eyebrow. Granted, he always did that. Merlin jumped from his seat. "I know that there is nothing to ruin, alright? No need to rub it in!"

Someone below on the stage cleared their throat, and made Merlin spin around: "What?!" He called down, annoyance radiating off him.

"My name is William," said the blond gentleman, who was clad in grey clothes that fit him very badly, and a greyish blue cloak, which fluttered a bit in the light breeze. "I'm here to audition." It sounded more like a question, while he pointedly looked at the list that was still in Merlin's hand. "So this is your play, huh?" William continued, "I always wanted to meet you, Mr. Shakespeare."

Merlin groaned. He would kill Will for this. Well, not this William-guy on the stage, he'd done nothing wrong, well...not yet. No, he'd kill his best friend Will, for giving him this pen name. When Merlin was a little boy, all he'd ever wanted, was to read a flyer, which would say: 'The Gratest Play of them All! by Merlin the Great' Instead, now all his plays were shown under the name of Shakespeare. Thanks, Will!

William, the on-stage-one, cleared his throat again: "Shall I begin?" His voice wasn't at all unpleasent, Merlin mused, and nodded. And William began.

He was good, Merlin thought, and glancing at Gaius, he saw the same impression. William was fluent, with a presence on stage that would easily capture all the attention, but at the same time seeming humble and modest. This was what Merlin was looking for! His heart began to race at the prospect of finally finding someone to play his main character. And while William performes, his clear, blue eyes never wavered from Merlin. Merlin should feel uncomfortable under the stare, but the truth was that it made his heart race just a tiny bit more. William wasn't only a great actor, but he also looked great. Well, Merlin knew this whole situation must have a catch. Merlin knew that people would talk, if he'd start something with one of the actors, but damn him, if he didn't at least try. If only for the beautiful eyes.

Arthur looked up, at where Mr Shakespeare himself discussed something with an elderly man. Shakespeare had black hair, blue eyes and perfectly shaped cheekbones. His hair stood up in all direktions, after he ran his fingers through it. He had big ears and was too thin, and Arthur couldn't help but wonder, how he was responsible, for the finest poetry Arthur had ever read. Arthur remembered the first time he had read one of Shakespeares poems, where he fell utterly in love with the poetry, and this man. After that he had willingly accompanied Morgana to watch her beloved plays, because he couldn't get enough of them either. Of course he didn't say so, cause a prince is not supposed to like theatre.

Morgana was his father's ward. His father of course being Uther Pendragon, King of England. Which made Arthur the future King of England. And while he knew that it was an honour to be King, he also wanted to spent the rest of his life, watching Shakespeare's plays. Morgana would call this escapism, and she would be right.

But since he started to watch the plays regularly, he began to notice that most of the actors the Caerleon Theatre could afford, were so bad it made him cringe. That's why he was here today. He wanted to show them all that he could do better than them. And he also wanted to show them that he could achieve something, even if nobody knew who he was. That's why he stole some servant's clothes and called himself William. He definitely didn't call himself so, because of William Shakespeare. He loved his poetry, but he wasn't some lovestruck girl. Probably.

Shakespeare turned around to Arthur, a huge smile spread across his face, and Arthur decided then and there that this smile would be his downfall.

"Okay, you got the part," Shakespeare called down, and it was all Arthur could do, not to jump up and punch the air. Instead he inclined his head and smiled back at Shakespeare. This broadened his smile and made his eyes sparkle, and Arthur felt the need to punch himself for thinking like this about a big eared poet in oversized clothes. He knew that his father would scream his lungs out, if he knew about the theatre thing. How would he react, if Arthur started something with a poor, mostly unknown writer? But damn Arthur, if he wouldn't at least try. If only for the beautiful poetry.


	2. Chapter 2

Act 1

The days went past like the summer. Too short a time, for nearly too much sunshine. And Merlin knew deep inside him that this short time of happiness wouldn't last long. And he was right. They did have the best essemble, they ever had, with William as the main character, and a few very good actors, who were new to London. One of them was Gwaine, who would be very perfect as the main characters friend, and Percival, who was so tall, he'd make a great villain, although Merlin could really not see how Percival could hurt anyone. And then there was Leon, who had the right hair for the female protagonist. Leon wasn't really that keen to play a woman, and a whole evening was spent discussing the stupidity of not letting women be actors. Of course Merlin, his stupid best friend Will, whom he still wanted to kill...a bit, and even Gaius, the director, had to be actors from time to time.

So everything seemed to be going perfect, except for the play, cause Merlin didn't have a play yet.

One evening Merlin sat in a bar. Again. And tried to think of something that would make his play good. He thought the alcohol could help, but it really didn't, and so he left his wine mostly untouched. That was, when he felt a warm and comforting hand land on his shoulder. It was William, his main character. No, the actor, corrected Merlin his thoughts. Although he had to admit that everytime he tried to think of a story for his main character, he ended up thinking about William.

William now leaned forward to whisper in Merlin's ear: "You look a bit depressed." Merlin snorted. A bit?

"How would you feel, if you really needed to write a play, and just couldn't find the words?" And shit! Why had he just said that?

"Wait what?!" exclaimed William, and Merlin hastily pressed his hand on William's mouth.

"Okay, I'll explain it," he said, with his hand still on William's mouth, "but not in here."

William nodded slowly and Merlin took his hand back.

"My room is two streets away, we can talk there," he said. William nodded again, still looking confused, but following him nonetheless.

It was a chilly evening, and once again Merlin was glad over the fact that he lived near the Caerleon Theatre, and the bar which was next to it: The Golden Dragon. The prises were good, the quality not bad, and the bartender Kilgarah was a funny old fellow.

They reached the house, in which Merlin rented a room, in no time, and Merlin showed William the way up the stairs to his home. His eyes seemed to light up, when he took the parchments and quills and ink pots in. "So, this is where the magic happens," he said and Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Yes, this is where I write the worst poetry mankind has ever read." That earned him a slap on the back of his head. "Don't say that! I love your poetry! It's the reason, I wanted to become an actor."

That surprised Merlin. "Really? I...I didn't know that," he said, before his mouth turned into one of his huge grins that lighten up his whole face.

"I told you, when we first met that I always wanted to meet you. Mr. Shakespeare." Merlin groaned: "Stop calling me that, alright?"

"Wh-what?"

"Stop calling me Shakespeare, my real name is Merlin."

William's mouth fell open, and Merlin rolled his eyes.

"It's a pen name. And it was NOT my idea!" William had seemingly lost his ability to speak, and so Merlin continued: "It was Will, you know, my friend from the theatre...the one who doesn't like you..." William nodded, and Merlin went on: "We were celebrating my first finished play, and we were very drunk. Will seemed to think it would be funny to write his name on the script: William. And then I told him that he couldn't just write his name on my play, but he said that it was only a pen name, because a writer apparently needs a pen name. And then he added a surname: Shakespeare. I don't know how he came up with that, but he laughed his ass off at that time, so it must have been something really funny."

Merlin looked a bit apologetic towards William, who looked back and promptly started laughing. Merlin wanted to be mad at him, he really wanted to, but the sight of William throwing his head back and laughing so hard, his whole body shook, made merlin forget his anger.

"Okay," William said, after he had calmed down, "so, Merlin it is."

"Yeah, but don't you start with the Prince Arthur jokes, cause I've heard them all."

The laughter suddenly went dead in William's eyes, and Merlin wasn't sure why. He was about to ask, when William spoke: "Merlin, I...er...I also need to tell you something."

Merlin's eyes went huge. Was William about to admit that he was Prince Arthur's manservant?

"William is just a...a stage name. It's not my real name."

"Oh...okay," said Merlin, not really knowing what else to say.

"My real name is Arthur."

Merlin swallowed audibly. That was not possible. That was just not possible. "Er," he said, "huh...I guess it's very modern to call children after legends. Well, my mother thought so at least. Ehem, and maybe your mother just really wanted to call you after Prince Arthur. Erm..."

Arthur interrupted him: "No. While, yes, I think I'm called after the legendary King Arthur, I'm not called after the prince. Merlin, I am the prince."

When Merlin didn't answer, Arthur started to look worried, and plead: "Please say something."

Merlin just shook his head, and after another minute he said: "You...I...YOU?"

This made Arthur chuckle. He grabbed Merlin's upper arm, and pulled him towards a chair. "Here. Sit down." And when Merlin sat down, he asked: "Will you be alright? Are you in shock?"

That seemed to shake Merlin awake. "In shock?" he asked incredulously. "In shock! Wow! Your opinion of yourself must be so huge. Are all princes just arrogant prats?!" That earned him another slap on the head, but it was without much force, so that it could have been mistaken for a pet.

"I hope you'll never have to meet my father. You'd be in the stocks, before you could say: supercilious, patronizing clotpole."

"Why," asked Merlin, the smirk back on his face, "is he a supercilious, condescending, patronizing, pompous, arrogant, royal clotpole?"

"Well, he is royal. And a bit patronizing sometimes." And then he laughed. "No, sod this, he's patronizing all the time." That made them both laugh, until Arthur gasped: "Shh. We shouldn't talk about him like that. He's the King of England!" That made Merlin laugh a bit more, until his sides hurt, and he had to gasp for air.

"So," Arthur said, after Merlin had stopped laughing, "let's talk about the play."


	3. Chapter 3

Act 2

Arthur watched Merlin closely, while he told him about his play. His grand gestures, the sparkle in his eyes, and the smile that tug at the corners of his lips, everytime he described his main character. Merlin fascinated Arthur. But then again, his poetry had fascinated him for years, and would probably fascinate him for years to come. But nothing would ever be more of interest for him, then Merlin himself.

Merlin told him about this guy, called Romeo, and his abinding love for an angel. But since angels weren't allowed to love humans, they had to meet in secret, and if anyone found out about their love, they would be killed. The angel tried to become human, in order to be together with Romeo. Thus the angel made a deal with the devil.

This is where Merlin stopped, because he didn't know, what would come next. "So, you play Romeo, Leon will play the angel, Percival plays the devil, and...and Gwaine will play Romeo's brother, who will die a horrible death in order to save the world."

"Why would he die to save the world?"

"Well, because he started the apocalypse, and now he has to fix it, right?"

Arthur thought about this. "Well," he said slowly, "it all sounds very...nice. But Merlin, don't you think this whole story sounds a bit modern? Isn't that a bit daring?"

"Of course," Merlin exclaimed, "that's the point! I'm fed up with writing historical plays about dead Kings! I want to write something new! Something that will move the people to tears!"

Arthur smiled. "Alright, but I think you shouldn't write something about the apocalypse. The people will be scared."

"But," Merlin cut in, "Romeo's brother has to die! You know: drama..."

"Fine," said Arthur, "then he maybe dies in a fight?"

"That's good!" said Merlin cheerfully and grabbed a quill, in order to write it down. "What else?"

"Why don't you let me tell you a story?" Arthur asked, and Merlin nodded.

So Arthur told him the story of Gwen, Morgana's beautiful maidservant, whom he had loved fiercely, a few years back. But because she was a servant, he knew that he could never be together with her. It sometimes felt, as though they were from different worlds, because of their families' differences. A bit like Romeo and his angel. At that time a knight called Lancelot had visited the castle of Camelot, where Arthur and his family lived. Arthur, like everyone else, could slowly see Gwen and Lancelot fall in love, and when one night they took off, to live their life together, Arthur felt a bit as if she had died, and something in him had died too. Of course he knew afterwards that he'd never really loved her, and then he'd met...someone. And this someone was now the only person, he could ever love.

His gaze wandered towards Merlin, who was quickly writing down some notes. "Brilliant!" Merlin exclaimed, and looked at Arthur with such a smile that Arthur could only wonder: Does he know? Does he know that I love him?

"Okay, listen," said Merlin, and grabbed Arthur's arm excitedly, "this is how the play will be: Romeo (that's you), is madly in love with...quick we need an Italian name."

"Italian?" Arthur inquired.

"Yes, it has to play in Italy, cause my mother always wanted to visit Italy and I promised her that my next play would play in Italy."

"Er...well. Verona is a beautiful city, and she could be called...Juliet!"

"Juliet it shall be! Right, Rome is madly in love with Juliet (played by Leon), but they are from two families that hate each other. Juliet's fiancé kills Romeo's best friend (that's Gwaine), and Romeo kills her fiancé (I think he could be played by Percival). Then he has to go into hiding. Meanwhile Juliet tries to kill herself, because her fiancé is dead, but she accidentally takes a wrong poison, which only let's her fall asleep for a day. But everyone thinks that she's dead, and someone (that will be Will's part), will bring Romeo the news. That's when he decides to kill himself very dramatically, so that the audience will start to cry. But then Juliet wakes up, and finds out that her lover Romeo is dead. But instead of killing herself, she runs to her parents house and tells everyone to stop being stupid, and to stop hating each other. Then she makes a deal with the devil to bring back her fiancé, and then they run away to live a happy life! The End!"

Arthur rolled his eyes: "Did you listen to any of what I said?"

"Most of it."

"Idiot."

"Clot-" Arthur effectively shut Merlin's mouth with his. They kissed for a while, and afterwards Arthur cupped Merlin's cheek and said: "I think this play will be wonderful, and it will probably be played for years to come." That made Merlin smile and kiss Arthur a bit longer.

"And if Romeo and Juliet turns out to be great," Merlin said, when both of them lay cuddling in Merlin's bed, "then I'll write a play about the legendary King Arthur and his court magician Merlin. But Merlin isn't an old wizard. No, this will be a whole new version of the Arthurian legend!"

Arthur smiled. "And will Arthur and Merlin be together?"

"Well, no. We need the drama, Arthur! You don't know anything about theatre. We will show the play on christmas eve, and then we will kill Arthur at the end, and Merlin will grow old, and see everyone around him die, until there's no-one left, and the world will change, and maybe carriages will be pulled by magic instead of horses, and we close the play with Merlin as an old man walking past one of these modern, horseless carriages! And then everyone can go home and enjoy Christmas! What do you think?"

What Arthur thought was: Well, even someone as great as Merlin, had a long way ahead, and a lot to learn. No-one could know what was yet to come.

But what he did was simply pulling Merlin towards him, and kissing him. And with a kiss, he thought, with a kiss a play should end.

The End...?

Note:

I don't really want to ask for reviews, but I'd be comfortable to leave the story like this...if anyone out there would like to read more, you just need to ask! :) (That's why I'll leave the status 'incomplete' for now.)

And thanks for following this little story! :)


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